The Historic Preservation Commission (HPC) was undecisive on moving forward with a reconstruction plan of the lower primary front façade for two buildings on Oklahoma Ave. for a proposed bar and grill. Now, the city council will have their chance on Tuesday.
The proposed property is located at the corner of Oklahoma Ave. and Wentz St. (202 and 204 E. Oklahoma Ave.), which was formerly a bicycle shop and restaurant.
The applicant, Town & Country Investments, is proposing to utilize the two existing buildings for one use. The request is to reconstruct the lower front façades (Oklahoma Ave.) of the two existing buildings. The request also will include new awnings on the Oklahoma Ave. facades as well as the side street façade (Wentz St.). All upper-level windows on the front façade and side street facade will be replaced. The windows are aluminum clad wood windows. The existing doors on the side street will be replaced with new doors. The façades will have new colors, but no existing brick area will be painted.
The proposal would keep all existing door entrances. The biggest change would be to the storefront on Oklahoma Ave. The proposal is to take the existing window areas and create garage doors that would open. The proposed use is a restaurant, and the applicant wants to have retractable doors that can open. The existing small area of storefront on Wentz St would also become a retractable garage door. The entresol area would have large black awnings. No portion of the existing brick area/structure of the buildings will change.
HPC, a recommending commission to the city council, discussed the item at their Aug. 2 meeting for nearly 40 minutes. In the end, a 3-3 final vote was cast with Lynn Bilodeau, Joe Chappell and Patrick Kerr voting yes. Valerie Duncan and Darryl Covington voted no. Adam Ropp debated back and forth before abstaining from the vote, which is recorded as a no vote.
The proposed plan is to open a bar and grill in the corner building called Superman 38 Bar & Grill after former Oklahoma Sooner All-American Roy Williams. The buildings would be combined to be used either together or separate for restaurant overflow, but mostly used for a special event center for meetings, small receptions and Sunday brunches.
The two retractable garage doors would allow for an open-air feel to the grill. Ownership is also hoping to add outdoor seating along the sidewalk.
From a historical viewpoint, Duncan showed some concerns.
“I have a problem with the retractable door facing Oklahoma,” Duncan told her fellow commissioners. “There is a historical precedent, perhaps that faces Wentz, but there isn’t on Oklahoma. It’s such a drastic change to the store front. I just don’t think it fits with the Victorian feel that downtown has always gone for.”
Councilman James Long, who sits on the HPC board as a non-voting member and owns the buildings next to the proposed buildings, pointed toward the old downtown fire station that has a similar look with retractable garage doors.
“If these doors were put in at the (old, downtown) fire house we would be ecstatic,” Long said. “Why can’t we be ecstatic that he is putting them here. I think it looks outstanding.”
Ropp added, “We are to preserve historical stuff. What is there now, is not historical. We are not preserving history. We be preserving (19)60’s, or whatever decade that is from.”
Duncan countered, “It is part of the town site. The standards are that you should try in keeping the overall historic design of Guthrie.”
Kassik said many of the downtown buildings were changed in the 1960’s.
“There is not very strong design guidance within our design standards,” said City Planner Dan Kassik. “The area to be reconstructed on each building has been manipulated over the years. The existing storefronts are not historic nor original to the buildings. The applicant has tried to get photo evidence to help substantiate design, but the photos obtained did not have any clear historical design context.”
Following the vote, Bilodeau shared his vision moving forward for the downtown area.
“We all are not about economic development, but we need to take some of that into consideration. Here we have some people wanting to invest heavily in downtown Guthrie and we need people to invest heavily in downtown Guthrie if we are going to bring it back. Sometimes I think we let the perfect get in the way of the good.”
The council is expected to discuss and take action at their regular scheduled meeting on Tuesday, August 17 inside City Hall. The public meeting is set for 7 p.m.
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